ACTUARY REPORT

Thank you and welcom back peter@BDM, as always very good and direct information.

I do feel there is good reason (and I am desperate to save my pension) since it is my military pension that the actuary is going to be reporting what percentage will give equalisation between us I do feel (joint agreed instruction letter to actury) that her pension and her full SERPS/S2P should be included so it will be a little fairer to me?

Do you know if actuary does contact her pension people to get her pension value or will they take the word of her Sol who has just given a written value of her pension in the draft instruction letter which I am not happy is truthfull?

I have been asked to provide to actuary another updated CETV from military, apprently easier for me to obtain!

Howier. It is difficult to say whether the actuary will contact your ex2b’s pension scheme. To some extent, this will be a matter of professional judgement on the part of the actuary. The pension value(s), including SERPS/S2P will have been stated on the form E’s that the solicitors will have exchanged. These valuations will have been provided by the scheme(s), it is likely that the actuary will be given copies of the scheme responses in which they are quoted. The actuary will take a (fair) view on how up to date these CETVs are in the context of the report required. This view will depend upon both the date of the previous CETV and the nature of the pension scheme (plus some other more minor factors such as contributions made in the interim).

It is difficult to imagine that the actuary would be treating you and your ex2b differently. As you are being asked to provide another, updated, CETV from the Armed Forces Pension Scheme, it is likely that a similar request has been made of your ex2b.

There is a very good reason why you are being asked to obtain your CETV; it is not just that it is easier. In most cases, a pension scheme member is entitled to one CETV in any twelve-month period, free of charge. If the actuary requested the CETV, it is possible that the scheme would charge for the valuation (even if the previous valuation were obtained more than twelve months ago). Although, if it is a Defined Contribution (aka Money Purchase) Scheme, this is a simple task and there is less likely to be a charge made by the scheme. [Your Armed Forces Pension Scheme is a Defined Benefit Scheme (also sometimes incorrectly referred to as a Final Salary Scheme)] Also, if the actuary requests the CETV, they would quite properly make a charge for doing the work. By asking you to obtain it, they are being fair to you and your ex2b, as you will be paying the fee for their report!

Peter@BDM, I am clear in what needs to be done in so far as my interest in my pension when instruct Actuary.

I am a little concerned however that you are not positively supporting that I am on the right track in so far as the e2b's SERPs/S2P as a factor!.

Howier and all.

I am sorry but this is going to get VERY HEAVY! Those of a weak disposition should look away now and skip to a more interesting post. My lame excuse is that it’s you (Howier’s) fault for asking intelligent questions. So, here goes.

You are understandably asking whether it is in your best interest to have your and your ex2b’s SERPS/S2P included in the actuarial report. I am afraid that I cannot answer that question, either through this posting or through any private correspondence. I will try to explain why.

In my opinion, what you are asking requires an answer that constitutes financial advice under something called the Financial Services and Markets Act. To give financial advice (as opposed to giving information as I have happily done previously) I would need to be “authorised and regulated” by the Financial Services Authority (FSA), which I am not. If I gave or offered financial advice, I would be committing a criminal offence. This I cannot and will not do.

I believe that there is no simple generic answer to your question, it all depends …
Sorry to be glib, but it’s rather like asking how long is a piece of string.

If someone who is authorised and regulated by the FSA were to offer advice on this area, I believe that they would be legally obliged to know enough about the financial affairs of both you and your ex2b to answer your question. This would almost certainly mean knowing the SERPS equivalent of the CETV for each of you. Gathering this information and analysing it is a highly skilled job and it would take quite a few hours to do. This means that someone would have to pay for the work and the advice.

Even if you were to enlist such financial advice, it is possible that you wouldn’t get an unequivocal answer. This is because there are further unknowns, such as how your lawyer will argue your case, how your ex2b’s lawyer will argue for her, and finally how the court would respond.

Sorry that I have not answered your question, but I hope that you can understand why.

Peter@BDM think your right you just possibly blew away the few still interested in this post!!

See your point re finanacial advice and fully understand.

Still need to respond to x2b sol and agree joint instruction to actuary but feel I wll go with my instinct and hope it works out right or my sol and barrster who I will need will really have to earn thier fee in court!
Cheers

Anyone else reading this post that has been through the actuaries report route!

Was SERPs/S2P included by the actuary?

Did you feel the SERPs/S2P usefull for or against you in the actuaries summing up of the effect on both parties?

858 viewings, howier - not a minority interest
How pensions are valued/shared/offset fairly is crucial to a fair divorce settlement.
To get reliable information and find out the income from a defined benefit pension you need an actuary.
The official form Form P is supposed to provide all the information required for pension sharing - no-one seems to know what the answers mean or whether pension schemes have to stand by them when they get the pension sharing order.
I don't know whether a District Fudge has to take an actuarial report into account or can stick with sharing the CETV.